1796 Robert Morris Signed Land Indenture — Declaration of Independence Signer, Mary Morris, Garrett Cottringer & Justice Isaac Smith
Exceptional Original 1796 Legal Indenture Signed by Declaration of Independence Signer Robert Morris
A remarkable original 1796 land indenture involving Robert Morris, the great Philadelphia financier of the American Revolution and signer of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and United States Constitution.
Dated March 1796, this substantial manuscript document concerns real property in Burlington County, New Jersey, and records a financial obligation involving Robert Morris and his wife, Mary White Morris, and members of the prominent Cadwalader family of Philadelphia and New Jersey.
The document is boldly signed by Robert Morris as “Robt Morris” and by his wife “Mary Morris.”
Of particular importance is the additional signature of Garrett Cottringer, Morris's Philadelphia business associate and bookkeeper. Cottringer was intimately involved in Morris's extensive real-estate and land-speculation activities during the 1790s. His presence on this document provides a fascinating direct connection to Morris's increasingly complicated financial affairs during the period immediately preceding his eventual imprisonment for debt.
The document was subsequently acknowledged before Isaac Smith, Esq., one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Smith was a prominent Revolutionary-era New Jersey figure who served as an associate justice of the state's Supreme Court from 1777 to 1804 and as a United States Representative from New Jersey from 1795 to 1797.
The Cadwalader parties named in the instrument are members of the distinguished Cadwalader family. Rebecca Cadwalader was the daughter of Philadelphia physician Thomas Cadwalader and later became the second wife of New Jersey statesman Philemon Dickinson. Elizabeth Cadwalader, her sister, died unmarried in 1799.
The manuscript contains a lengthy and highly detailed legal description of the property, with metes-and-bounds references to adjoining lands, trees, stones, courses and degrees, providing an unusually rich example of late-18th-century American land documentation.
Historical Significance
Robert Morris (1734–1806) was one of the most important financial figures of the American Revolution. He helped finance the Continental cause, served in the Continental Congress, was Superintendent of Finance of the United States, and signed all three of the nation's foundational documents: the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and U.S. Constitution.
The date of this document is particularly significant. By 1796, Morris's enormous investments in western lands and real estate were placing increasing financial pressure upon him. His surviving correspondence and business records document an increasingly complex series of mortgages, conveyances and arrangements involving creditors and associates such as Garrett Cottringer.
This document therefore represents far more than an ordinary land deed. It is a contemporary primary-source record of the financial and real-estate activities of one of the principal Founding Fathers during the final decade of the 18th century.
Signatures and associations:
Robert Morris • Mary White Morris • Garrett Cottringer • Isaac Smith • Rebecca Cadwalader • Elizabeth Cadwalader
Date: March 1796
Place: Philadelphia / Burlington County, New Jersey
Document type: Original manuscript indenture / land and financial instrument
Condition: Good. Original paper with extensive period folds, foxing, staining, localized fold losses and separations, and general age wear. Despite the condition issues, the document remains substantially complete and the principal signatures are strong and legible.
Exceptional Original 1796 Legal Indenture Signed by Declaration of Independence Signer Robert Morris
A remarkable original 1796 land indenture involving Robert Morris, the great Philadelphia financier of the American Revolution and signer of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and United States Constitution.
Dated March 1796, this substantial manuscript document concerns real property in Burlington County, New Jersey, and records a financial obligation involving Robert Morris and his wife, Mary White Morris, and members of the prominent Cadwalader family of Philadelphia and New Jersey.
The document is boldly signed by Robert Morris as “Robt Morris” and by his wife “Mary Morris.”
Of particular importance is the additional signature of Garrett Cottringer, Morris's Philadelphia business associate and bookkeeper. Cottringer was intimately involved in Morris's extensive real-estate and land-speculation activities during the 1790s. His presence on this document provides a fascinating direct connection to Morris's increasingly complicated financial affairs during the period immediately preceding his eventual imprisonment for debt.
The document was subsequently acknowledged before Isaac Smith, Esq., one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Smith was a prominent Revolutionary-era New Jersey figure who served as an associate justice of the state's Supreme Court from 1777 to 1804 and as a United States Representative from New Jersey from 1795 to 1797.
The Cadwalader parties named in the instrument are members of the distinguished Cadwalader family. Rebecca Cadwalader was the daughter of Philadelphia physician Thomas Cadwalader and later became the second wife of New Jersey statesman Philemon Dickinson. Elizabeth Cadwalader, her sister, died unmarried in 1799.
The manuscript contains a lengthy and highly detailed legal description of the property, with metes-and-bounds references to adjoining lands, trees, stones, courses and degrees, providing an unusually rich example of late-18th-century American land documentation.
Historical Significance
Robert Morris (1734–1806) was one of the most important financial figures of the American Revolution. He helped finance the Continental cause, served in the Continental Congress, was Superintendent of Finance of the United States, and signed all three of the nation's foundational documents: the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and U.S. Constitution.
The date of this document is particularly significant. By 1796, Morris's enormous investments in western lands and real estate were placing increasing financial pressure upon him. His surviving correspondence and business records document an increasingly complex series of mortgages, conveyances and arrangements involving creditors and associates such as Garrett Cottringer.
This document therefore represents far more than an ordinary land deed. It is a contemporary primary-source record of the financial and real-estate activities of one of the principal Founding Fathers during the final decade of the 18th century.
Signatures and associations:
Robert Morris • Mary White Morris • Garrett Cottringer • Isaac Smith • Rebecca Cadwalader • Elizabeth Cadwalader
Date: March 1796
Place: Philadelphia / Burlington County, New Jersey
Document type: Original manuscript indenture / land and financial instrument
Condition: Good. Original paper with extensive period folds, foxing, staining, localized fold losses and separations, and general age wear. Despite the condition issues, the document remains substantially complete and the principal signatures are strong and legible.
